Somewhere A Clock Strikes Midnight
by Roger Johnson
Summary: The Gryffindors don't like Brick. The Slytherins don't like Scott. They like each other, though. Sort of. Harry Potter AU, Scott/Brick. Dedicated to Zawnella! Happy birthday!
1. Chapter 1

When they met on the train the first time maybe it was serendipity. Maybe fate was trying to bring them together from the very start. They were both scared out of their minds, Brick having learned from his wizard father that no Hufflepuffs would be tolerated in his strict household, and Scott having no idea whatsoever of what to expect, coming from a farmhouse where he lived with his grandfather. "Maybe it came from yer mam," he surmised as they sat on the porch together one hot August day. Pa was always quick to put the blame on Scott's absent mother.

The wizarding world was a wonderful, exciting place, and Hogwarts presented a brand new place for Scott, a new beginning. It wouldn't be like elementary school where he had to visit the guidance counselor every Wednesday and where the other kids didn't call him crazy behind his back.

At least, he hoped it would be.

On the Hogwarts Express, Scott had been one of the first people to arrive and board because he was terrified the train would leave without him. His grandfather said a short, appropriately manly goodbye and wandered back to simple Muggle world.

Scott sat quaking with fear, pressed into the back corner of the compartment with his knees to his chin as he stared out the window at all the people dressed in robes of all colours and pointed hats and waving wands to float luggage and other students greeting their friends and children crying. Scott didn't think he'd ever seen this many people in his entire life. He felt like he might puke.

When he first saw Brick McArthur he paid no more attention to him than anyone else, although admittedly he did find comfort in the sight of another terrified face. His father was dressed in camouflage patterned robes and laughing with a likewise dressed wizard and absently patting Brick on the head harder than necessary. Brick was dressed in plain clothes, and his face was not striking; he had a cleft chin, heavy eyebrows, a clean-cut chin, and he was pale with fear.

Scott moved on to stare at the next person who walked by.

* * *

Brick showed up next at the door of Scott's compartment, which had been peeked into and passed by as soon as anyone noticed him so many times it had been almost constant. Brick, however, saw him and cleared his throat nervously. "Can I sit with you?" He asked, biting his lip and making a visible effort to be brave.

Scott narrowed his eyes at the intruder, but Brick didn't take the hint. There was an awkward stare down, until finally Scott gave in. "OK, whatever. Just close the door behind him." It was for the best, anyway. If there was another person in the compartment no one else would want to interrupt them.

Unfortunately, Brick took Scott's allowance to mean that they were going to become friends. "I'm Brick McArthur," he said, extended his hand. Scott eyed it warily, but Pappy had always taught him to accept handshakes. It helped to judge how weak another person was. Scott allowed Brick to clasp his hand in a short, sweaty embrace. To Scott's surprise, despite Brick's obvious anxiousness his grip was sure and steady. Scott was grudgingly impressed.

Brick moved over the window and stared out at the sea of people. "My dad's there," he said, pointing to the man Scott had noticed before. "I asked him not to wear those army robes, it's so embarrassing. He insisted though. At least someone else's parent wore them too." Scott stared at the pair of wizards.

"There's a wizard army?" He asked. He hated to rely on other people for information, but he was both intrigued and terrified by the thought that wizards were ready for war.

Brick laughed. "Oh, you're a muggleborn?" Scott bristled at this apparent dismissal, but before he could respond, Brick carried on. He didn't seem to mean muggleborn as an insult, but Scott was on the defensive anyway, just in case. "No, the Ministry of Magic doesn't have an army anymore. It was disbanded in the eighties, after Voldemort was defeated by Harry Potter for the first time. But my dad still wears the robes to show that he fought for our freedom or whatever. Like I said, it's embarrassing. It just shows everyone how old he is."

Scott stared at the two wizards curiously. The both stood ramrod straight and both had visible scars on their faces. He could see that the man talking to Brick's dad was missing three fingers on one hand. He knew about Harry Potter, of course, had bought all the books about him he could find at Flourish and Blott's, but he hadn't heard about the army. It seemed like they really had been fighters, by the look of him. He thought that if his father had been in the wizard army and fought the Death Eaters he'd be proud of it, not embarrassed. Then again, fathers had always been a sore spot for him.

"Hey," Brick said suddenly, making Scott flinch. But when Scott turned to him, Brick was smiling. "You never told me your name."

"Oh," Scott scrunched up his nose. He wasn't really a friendly person. He didn't want to give Brick the wrong impression. Brick seemed like the kind of guy who would do anything to impress his dad even though he complained about him. Scott wasn't the kind of guy who liked impressing people. However, it would be useful to have a contact who knew things about the wizarding world. He shrugged. "Scott Pike."

Brick smiled happily. "What house do you think you'll be in, Scott?"

Scott bit his lip. "I don't know," he said slowly, although he was pretty much certain he would be in Slytherin. Brick seemed like a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, both of which were known to dislike Slytherins. He didn't want to scare Brick away. It was true that no dark wizard had ever come from any house other than Slytherin; that kind of track record pretty much guaranteed a bad reputation. But Scott didn't see himself as some sort of evil, power-abusing monster. He just had strong self-preserving instincts.

It hadn't helped that his Pappy had raised him. His Pappy had somewhat questionable morals. Rather than any religion, his Pappy had given him sermons about how the truth is relative, white lies are necessary in certain situations, and authority figures should be respected to their faces and ignored behind their backs.

"You do what you can to get by," Pappy said, rocking back and forth in his creaky old chair. It's a lesson that's got deep roots in Scott's mindset.

Scott shrugs. "What house do you think you'll be in?" He asks Brick, curious.

Brick groans and puts his face in his hands. "I have to be in Gryffindor. I don't have a choice. It was my dad's house, and he was just saying to Hurley, wizard he was talking to, how shameful Hufflepuff is. He said if I was sorted into Hufflepuff I wouldn't even be invited back home in the summer. I'm not smart enough to be in Slytherin or Ravenclaw, so if I want to go home, it's got to be Gryffindor."

Scott was surprised. "You think Slytherins are smart?"

"Yeah, obviously. They're known for being devious and cunning. That means smart. Selfish, but smart. Anyway, totally not the point."

Scott made a face. "I doubt your dad's serious about not letting you come home."

Brick shook his head. "My dad's sort of…crazy, by most standards. Super strict, and obsessed with things like…training me to be a soldier and stuff. I'm not old enough to use magic outside of school right now, obviously, but he still wants me to be in top physical condition. And like you saw, he's still obsessed with the army even though it's been disbanded for like thirty years!"

Scott mulled this over for a few minutes, but all this talk of dads was making him feel uncharitable. He turned away, facing the window. The train was now moving swiftly through the countryside, chugging steadily away as cows, farmhouses and fields blurred by. It made him feel homesick. "You seem like a Gryffindor to me, anyway," he muttered, only half audibly. Brick heard it though, and grinned so wide it was worrisome.

"You really mean that? Thanks so much! You seem like a Gryffindor too!"

Scott snorted. "Yeah, right. I'm going to be in Slytherin." He continued to sulkily stare out the window, giving off his best 'stop-talking-to-me-I'm-bad-tempered' vibes. Brick was obviously painfully obtuse though, because he kept talking to Scott.

"Really? Do you like, do dark rituals then?" Scott snorted with laughter, but when he looked up he saw that Brick was serious.

"No, obviously not. I'm just…self-oriented."

"You mean selfish," Brick said, eyeing Scott judgmentally.

"No, I mean self-oriented," Scott countered peevishly, and turned his body away completely to look out the window. He was sick of this dad-impressing goody two shoes.

Luckily for Scott, or perhaps not so luckily, a girl crashed into their compartment before Brick could think of a retort. She was as square-jawed as Brick, with short hair and a frown on her face. "I've been looking for you all over!" She said, pointing at Brick with an accusing finger. She seemed angry.

"Hi, Jo," Brick said meekly. Scott could tell without even looking that Brick had been avoiding the girl on purpose. To Scott's utter dismay, Jo sat in their compartment next to Brick. She proceeded to begin talking loudly.

"I was hoping since our fathers were standing together that we could board the train together, but I turned around and you had disappeared. I had to go all over the train to find you. It was really inconsiderate of you. I see you've made a new friend already. Introduce us." She was forceful and loud and Scott immediately disliked her. She was the sort of brash, overbearing, competitive Gryffindor that represented the polar opposite of Scott's quiet, scheming personality. In this case, opposites definitely did not attract. He found Jo utterly repulsive from the first word she said.

Brick shrugged resignedly. "This is Scott Pike. Scott, this is Jo. We've known each other since we were kids. Our fathers were in the army together."

"I feel bad for you," Scott replied snidely. Brick was shocked into laughing. Jo smacked him on the arm.

"Shut up, freckle-face!" Jo snapped. "Did you hole up with a Slytherin, or what?" She asked Brick disapprovingly. Brick shrugged helplessly. "Why don't we find another compartment? I already made _two_ friends while I was looking for you. Looks like I win again."

"I wasn't aware we were competing," Brick said stiffly. "And I'm fine here, I don't want to switch compartments."

"Fine!" Jo said, and stood up. Scott breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll just bring them here then."

Scott was horrified. When Jo left, Brick turned back to Scott.

"Sorry about her," he said.

Scott shook his head. "No, I'm _really _sorry for you. She seems awful. I think I would kill myself if I had to put up with her."

Brick shifted uncomfortably, his loyalty at risk. "Well, she's not that bad…I've known her a long time. She gets better once you're used to…the yelling. I don't know. She's always trying to compete with me. I don't get it."

When Jo returned, she had two first years following her who looked just as scared as Scott and Brick had been. Scott suspected Jo had basically forced them to follow her here. They probably thought they were being led to their deaths.

"This is Zoey," she said, gesturing to a girl with bright red hair and pale skin. She was pretty, but not Scott's type. "And this is Cameron," Jo gestured to a very short black kid with huge goggle-like glasses perched on his nose. As they watched he pushed them up the bridge of his nose and adjusted them slightly. Scott had him pegged for Ravenclaw before the kid could even say anything.

Jo's loud talk permeated the compartment for the next hour of the voyage. They all changed into their robes as the sun set, doing up the clasps of their plain black robes and discussing houses again. Jo and Brick had their hearts set Gryffindor, Cameron speculated that he would be in Ravenclaw, as Scott had guessed, and Zoey was unsure, though Scott was pretty sure she would be in Hufflepuff from her shy but sweet attitude. Scott didn't tell the others that he thought he would be in Slytherin. No one seemed to notice that he hadn't said anything except for Brick, who stared at him curiously, but didn't mention it.

When they got to Hogwarts the first years were herded into the magical boats, and there were no accidents, although a very, very large fish took a lot of interest in Scott and kept nudging their boat the entire way to the castle. By the time they reached the shore he was drenched in sweat and terrified. And that was before he found out he was going to be sorted in front of the entire school.

The names were called in alphabetically order, so Scott was closer to the end, and Brick was a few names ahead of him. He could see the raised podium the first years climbed up on and the stool where they sat, and he watched Zoey get sorted into Hufflepuff, Cameron get sorted into Ravenclaw and Jo get sorted into Gryffindor. When Brick was called, he took a few steps into the Great Hall, then stopped to look out at the crowd of students, which Scott couldn't see.

Whatever Brick saw terrified him so much…that he wet himself. Right there in front of the whole school, and all the teachers.

The deputy headmistress was quick to rush forward, wand waving a spell to clean the mess away, but the damage was done. Scott couldn't see the crowd, but he could hear them laughing. He felt really, really bad for Brick. Even the other first years were laughing. Scott couldn't see anything funny in the fact that Brick had basically just ruined his chances of being popular at school ever, or getting into his house of choice.

Everyone stopped laughing, stunned, when Brick was sorted into Gryffindor anyway. Scott just about had to pick his jaw up off the floor. There must have been some true Gryffindor spirit in him to warrant that.

By the time Dakota Milton had been sorted into Hufflepuff after him the chatter had just about died down. By the time Scott stepped up to the stool things seemed to be normal; or as normal as they could be at a wizarding school. Hundreds of students in black robes sat at tables lit by floating candles. Scott felt sick, but he managed to get to the stool without puking. Or wetting his pants. One thing was sure: he wouldn't be able to hang out with Brick after that episode. It would be social suicide.

He sat on the stool and tried to clear his mind, taking a deep breath as the sorting hat was placed on his head. The Sorting Hat took about five seconds of _hmm_ing before it announced for everyone to hear, "Slytherin!"

Scott could tell Brick was watching him as he walked to the green and silver table, but he wasn't sure why. When Scott looked over at the sea of gold and scarlet, he saw that Brick was sitting alone at one end, being given a wide berth by his housemates.

Scott's own housemates were eager to greet him, slapping him on the back in congratulations and welcoming him with secretive smiles as if he'd just been initiated into an exclusive club. He was feeling very wary; he was surrounded by people just as devious, dishonest and cunning as him…if not more so.


	2. Chapter 2

Brick seemed to realize that Scott wasn't going to forgive him for his little accident any more than any other student is. Scott heard Jo berating him at the feast as everyone was eating, her voice carrying two tables over. At least she forgave him enough to hang out with him. But between the two of them the entire castle would have avoided them if it was possible. Jo got into a huge fight with another first year Gryffindor named Lightning later in the evening, and a professor had to intervene when things started to get physical.

Scott was forced to spend his evening sat next to an orange spray-tanned girl named Anne Maria who seemed to have been sorted into Slytherin by dint of her incredible narcissism more than anything else. She was petty and irritating and Scott knew they weren't going to get along from the very start.

It was sort of a whirlwind getting from the Great Hall to the Slytherin common room (password: dragon scales), and the first few days of classes were the same. Each professor took the entire hour of class to explain the rules and expectations of the class, which were all basically the same. The only important things Scott learned were who each class was with. Herbology and Charms were with Ravenclaw, Potions and Transfiguration were with Gryffindor, and History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts were with Hufflepuff. Astronomy was Slytherins alone, at midnight on Wednesdays.

Scott couldn't help but dwell on the classes spent with the Gryffindors. They were brash and loud, and always eager to pick fights with Slytherins. Jo and Lightning were both ultra-competitive, although Scott quickly learned that Brick had an aggressive edge to him that he hadn't picked up at first. To Scott's amusement, Jo and Anne Maria quickly established themselves as rivals. Jo considered Anne Maria a girly girl and Anne Maria considered Jo a tom boy and apparently that made them enemies.

Scott was just as likely to laugh and make fun of one as he was to laugh and make fun of the other, so it was nice to not have to do any of the actual fighting and just take a spectator's seat.

Lucky for him, Jo chose to be Brick's partner in Potions whether Brick liked it or not, and Anne Maria got stuck with Lightning because the teacher was a bit cruel, so Scott wasn't paired with someone he hated. He did have a Gryffindor partner, whose name was Sam, and although Scott was mildly irritated by Sam's can-do attitude and eagerness to win, Sam was a nice person with no secret plans or thoughts and Scott didn't have to have his hackles raised constantly in that class.

Classes with the Hufflepuffs were less exciting, the students being much more docile. They rarely rose to any bait laid out by the Slytherins and were difficult to insult, because when you tried to target one the others would suddenly appear as a human shield. The Hufflepuffs, like all gentle herbivores, knew there was safety in numbers. They also knew how effective it was to bite back. Zoey, in particular, had a fierce pair of fangs that could chase even the nastiest Slytherin away from her friends. She and a boy named Mike had become inseparable since the first night, and the other Hufflepuffs teased them mercilessly. However, Zoey had dirt on Dakota Milton: she knew that the other Hufflepuff had a crush on a Gryffindor named Sam.

Another Hufflepuff of note was Dawn, who seemed to know everything about everyone and had been recommended to the divination professor for advanced classes even though the class wasn't supposed to be available until third year. There was also a Hufflepuff named Staci, who was a pure blood and obsessed with her lineage. No one ever wanted to be her partner and even her own loyal, loving housemates avoided her like the plague.

When it came to the Ravenclaws, Cameron and silent B were the only ones Scott cared for. Cameron was already well known as the smartest kid in their year, and Scott had overheard him complaining about Jo and Lightning trying to use him to win stupid contests. Scott had made note of Cameron's abilities and planned to use them to his advantage at any time necessary, but he planned to be discrete about it. Those Gryffindors were amateurs.

Silent B was silent, as the name implied. This made him the perfect partner for Scott in Herbology. The professor there believed in House Unity, as she called it, and had insisted on pairing them with members of the other house. Scott had quickly claimed the notoriously quiet kid, knowing others were intimidated by his large, surly demeanor. Scott was thrilled to learn that Silent B was as clever as any Ravenclaw ought to be, which would do wonders for his grades. Although, probably due to his experience on the farm, Scott was finding out he was a natural at Herbology.

Classes with the Gryffindors always made Scott antsy. Probably because he could swear Brick was staring at him practically all the time. Sometimes he even caught Brick staring, but he didn't look away when Scott caught him. He would meet his eye and offer a half smile, staring at Scott pensively like he was a puzzle that was particularly hard to figure out. It weirded Scott out.

xxx

Scott got himself into trouble not more than two weeks into school. Heather, a Slytherin prefect, had been instructed to talk to the first years about school regulations as a refresher after the two hectic weeks of orientation, and warn them that from this point they were expected to know the rules. No leniency would be given for not knowing they were doing anything wrong from this point on.

"As you know, muggle products are not allowed in the school, and as you know, they wouldn't work even if you did bring them. So don't even try. Not that you would."

Scott's mistake was to speak at that moment. "Why don't they work?"

Every head turned toward him, faces ranging from horrified to accusing. He immediately knew he had done something very wrong. Heather tapped her chin as she looked at him. "Because the magical interference is too strong," she said, almost automatically, like she had heard it so many times it was ingrained in her mind. "Why do you ask? Are you a mudblood?"

Scott knew enough to flinch when she said that. He had no idea if he was or not, knowing very little about either of his parents, but the damage was done. Scott knew that was the word Bellatrix Lestrange had carved into Hermione Granger's arm. He knew it was a war word. He knew he had just been branded, and as if on some cue every other first year took two steps away from him, leaving him exposed and feeling embarrassed and naked.

The others would know better than to associate with him in the future. Heather would guarantee that the upper years knew not to speak to him. He had committed social suicide nearly as badly as Brick.

So much for Hogwarts being a new chapter in Scott's life.

xxx

From that day onward, Scott took reading for classes a lot more seriously. He was pretty sure the librarian thought he was some kind of Slytherin genius, if the smile she gave him every time he checked out a book was an indicator. He read _Hogwarts: A History _within a week. IT wasn't difficult for him. He was used to reading, as books had been some of his only companions throughout his early life.

It was too late to undo the damage he had caused. His new knowledge could have saved him before, but no matter how well-versed he was in magical lore now, he still sat alone at the Slytherin table. Even Anne Maria, who seemed like the kind of girl who would talk to anyone who would listen, avoided him. The worst thing about it all was that Brick knew. The moment Brick first saw him in the Great Hall after it happened it was like he could tell. Maybe Scott had been branded with the mark of a loser, only visible to other losers. Brick kept trying to give him sympathetic looks, trying to catch his eye. Scott kept his eyes firmly downward at all times. He had to become sneakier too, because Brick started to actively look for Scott in the library and out on the school grounds.

Scott familiarized himself with the dusty back shelves of the library where no other student dared to venture. This was how Scott started reading illuminated texts from the 1500s, studying ancient magic. He learned all the hiding spots near the lake and the greenhouses. This was how the Herbology teacher once found him idly picking weeds that were growing around a wildflower behind one of the buildings. That was how Scott started lending a hand with the gardens around the school, working with both the Herbology professor and the groundskeeper. The two adults had been in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, respectively, which apparently gave them the right to worry about why Scott didn't get along with his peers. He snapped at them everytime they asked; in fact, he was bitter and bad-tempered, most of the time, and insisted that they reward him for every bit of work he did. He received extra credit in Herbology and House Points.

He never told any of his fellow Slytherins where the extra points each week were coming from. They all said that the person earning them was a Slytherin hero, and they'd have parties for whoever it was if they knew their name. Scott wasn't naïve enough to believe that.

xxx

It was Jo who finally brought Scott and Brick together again. Her shouting filled the library and sent a shiver down Scott's spine even though he was safe in a nook in the farthest back corner of the room. "Brick, I know you're in here!" She shrieked, and Scott felt a surge of pity for the hapless Gryffindor. Then he realized, _'Wait, I don't like Brick,'_ and did his best to quell that feeling of pity. He could now hear the librarian attempting to get Jo to leave the library, with little success. Jo continued to scream for Brick, students began to shout at her to stop, and suddenly Scott could hear footsteps close by.

They sounded like their owner was trying to be stealthy while they ran – which, if you've ever tried it, is basically impossible. Scott's heart squeezed weirdly. He explained to himself that it was because he knew it was Brick looking for a hiding spot, and he really didn't want Brick to find him. But it felt more hopeful than that, which was absolutely mortifying.

Sure enough, Brick came running around the edge of the last shelf and turned right toward Scott. He stopped dead. They stared at each other with wide eyes like frightened rabbits. Then Jo let another screech and Brick hurried forward, diving under the desk. Scott considered this quite overdramatic and unnecessary, but then again, he wasn't the one being threatened by Jo's wrath.

To everyone's shock, the librarian put an end to Jo's reign of terror by using the full-body bind on her and calling on the house elves to carry her to the deputy head master's office, where she would be punished quite severely, if the librarian had any say in things. The silence that descended after Jo's departure was almost disturbing. The contrast was very dramatic. Scott was particularly affected because the quiet made him very aware of the sound of Brick panting from under the desk. The boy had not moved. After several minutes, Scott peeked under the table.

"She's gone now," he said hesitantly, afraid that Brick might have finally snapped. He was lying on the dusty carpet with his head turned to one side, sweating and breathing heavily. "Are you alright?" Scott asked reluctantly. He didn't really want to get involved in this drama.

Brick sighed heavily. "I'm peachy. How are you?"

Scott was surprised into a laugh. He hadn't even known Brick was _capable _of sarcasm. Brick was surprised too, and looked up with a tentative smile as Scott grinned. Scott's smile faded as Brick's gaze met his and he cleared his throat. He didn't want to give Brick the wrong impression, after all.

Brick seemed to finally gain the strength to pull himself up off the ground. He fell heavily into a chair across from Scott, and fixed him with a significant look that made Scott want to fidget. Scott refused to let Brick of all people make him squirm. "You can't hide from her forever. And when she finds you she'll kill you."

Brick grimaced. "Jo's not _that_ bad," he said, fiddling with a book Scott had slid across the table when he had finished with it. "What is this?" Brick asked, making a face as he read the book's title. "_Ye Olde Compendiumme of the Plantes of the Moore. _Are you seriously reading this? What does that even _mean_?"

Scott grabbed the book from him and sniffed defensively. "It's a book about the plants of England. It was written in like, the 1300s. It's none of your business." He crossed his arms and glared at Brick, clutching the book to his chest.

"I'm not judging," Brick said, raising his hands in placation. He fixed Scott with that _significant look_ again. "So what did you do?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Scott. He certainly _seemed_ like he was judging.

"None of your business," Scott repeated, dropping his eyes to the table. He didn't come across as very certain of it.

"You can tell me. I know what it's like to be an outcast from your House. You know that."

"Yeah, and I treated you as an outcast too. It's not like I was nice to you, ever. Why are you trying to pretend we're friends or something?"

Brick's mouth twitched unhappily, but he shrugged instead of responding. He turned his eye down to his hands and the two of them were silent for a long time. Scott stared at Brick like he was waiting for an answer still, but he was really just trying to figure out what Brick wanted from him.

Brick's head suddenly snapped upward and he fixed Scott with a bitter smile. "Whatever you did, it can't be worse than what I did. Jo told her dad, because she thought it was funny. Jo's dad told my dad. My dad told me I wasn't welcome home this Christmas…or in the summer." Tears sprung to Brick's eyes, to Scott's utter horror. Scott reached across the table and patted Brick's hand awkwardly.

"That's really…harsh…man…" He said awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say. "Are you sure your dad wasn't exaggerating? Like, he probably didn't mean it, right?"

Brick started to cry. "He hasn't talked to me since! He won't answer any of my letters, and Jo's dad stopped talking to him because of me, so she hasn't heard anything about him either!"

Scott was quiet for a moment, stunned. He was completely at a loss. Obviously his earlier attempts at comfort had only made things worse. He stared at Brick for a moment, and then decided that the only way to calm him down would be to do the unthinkable. Scott had a moment where he thought to himself, _'Just walk away. You don't owe him anything.'_ But staring at Brick it passed almost immediately. There was something so pathetic about him that Scott felt compelled to do something. He awkwardly approached Bricks side of the table and slid an arm around his shoulders.

Brick's response was immediate. He swiveled in his seat and threw his arms around Scott, drawing the smaller boy into his lap. Scott let out a yelp of horror, nearly suffocated by the force of Brick's hug, and getting a very moist face in the crook of his neck, which was simultaneously ticklish and very unpleasant.

"Can't you stay with Jo for Christmas and the summer?" Scott asked timidly, attempting in vain to extricate himself at least a little from Brick's arms. Brick shook his soggy head against Scott's chest, leaving a residue of what Scott hoped to God was tears in a streak across his collarbone, which had been exposed by the force of Brick pulling Scott's robes toward him.

"Like I said, Jo's dad stopped talking to mine because of what I did. He'd never even let me under his roof for five minutes, let alone a few months. I'm homeless!"

Scott knew enough not to ask Brick where his mother was. Sitting on the lap of another boy he barely knew in the back of the library of a school for wizards, Scott had a strange and inexplicable moment of selfless kindness. "You can stay with me and my pappy," he blurted, and immediately clapped his hands over his mouth in shock. He could not believe he had said that. He was convinced that some ventriloquist was lurking around and had said it for him. He tried to look around for Peeves, but Brick pulled him even closer at the words.

"R-really?" He asked, with a shuddering sob. "You'd do that for me? I thought you hated me!" He clasped Scott to his bosom and wept even harder, forming sentences that were too full of tears to comprehend, although Scott was pretty sure Brick had said that he wasn't a true Slytherin, which was quite insulting.

But Scott found he didn't have the heart to take back his offer, in the end. He left the library damp and with salt encrusted on his skin. Then, at the end of the term, he left the school with Brick at his side to return to Pappy's farm for Christmas.


End file.
